Method ojj setting up tenpins



:UNITED sTATEs NrATnivr onirica. i

THOMAS E. SHULL, LElVISTOVN, PENNSYLVANIA, j

METHOD OE SETTING UP TENPINS.

Specification of Letters Patent No. 8,614, dated December 23, 1851. p

T0 all whom t mczyconocrn Be it known that I, THOMAS E. SHULL, of Lewistown, in the county of Mifflin and State of Pennsylvania, have made certain new and useful improvements in constructing tenpin-alleys and also an improved mode of adjusting or setting up the pins, by which a player can practice `the game without the aid of boys or assistants to setup thepins and return the balls; and I do hereby de clare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description of the construction and operation of the same, reference being had to the annexed drawings, making a part of this specification, in which- Figure l, is a side elevation. Fig: 2, is a i back view in elevati-on. Fig. 3, is a plan or birds-eye view of the alley. I

Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts `in each of the several figures.

. The nature of my invention consists lst in having thealley inclined so that the terminus will be elevated somewhat above the end at which the player is stationed, the terminus is of semicircular shape so that the balls in striking against it are turned round and pass downto the player on either side of the alley owing to the inclination, grooves being made for the balls to run in.

My invention consists 2d in havingIr a cord attached to each pin the severalends passing up through an adjusting screen and also guide screens and attached to a circular disk or plate, to this plate is attached a cord which passes over suitable pulleys and winds round a wheel near the player, by turning the wheel the pins are raised or lowered and properly adjusted in the alley, with aid of the adjusting and guide screens as will be hereafter described.

,To enable others skilled in the art to make and use my invention I will proceed to describe its construction and operation.

A, Figs. l, 2 and 3, is the alley. B, is the semicircular terminus which projects upward somewhat above the alley as seen in Figs. l and 2; in Fig. 3, the semicircular shape of the terminus is seen, the inclination of the alley is seen in Fig. l. (a) (a) (ca) (a.) Fig. 3, are the grooves at the sides of the alley for the balls to run in when passing down to the player. The alley A, should be sufficiently inclined so as to allow the balls to pass down to the player, say an inclination of about one inch to ten feet. The end of eXtreme end of the alley, see Fig."3 and doti ted lines in Fig. l. The cushions ordinarily used in alleys which cover the terminus are not needed with the semicircular terminus, the cushion has a tendency to destroytthe force of the ball and that is requisitein ordinary alleys as they are taken up by boys at the end of the alley where the pins are placed and rolled down to the player in inclined gutters, but in my case the reaction or perhaps more properly a certain amount of the original force of the ball is required in order that it may have suflicient momentum, favored by the inclination ofthe alley to pass down one of the grooves to the player, after being turned by the terminus.

D are the pins. These pins are turned with shoulders (c) on them, see Figs. 1 and 2, t-he porti-on from-the shoulder to the top being of uniform thickness.

E is an adjusting screen placed at a suitable height directly over the pins, or directly over the spot on the alley that the pins occupy when properly adjusted.

The screen is secured between two uprights F, F, Fig. 2. Holes (d) are bored through the screen to receive the upper portion of the pins, see dotted lines in Figs. 1 and 2. These holes are placed the proper distance apart and correspond precisely to the position of the pins on the alley. When properly adjusted, the dotted lines in Fig. 3 show the shape of the adjusting screen and the pins D (which are properly ad justed on the alley) correspond to the holes through the screens.

(e) are cords attached to the tops the pins D, one cord to each pin, these cords pass up through the holes (al) in the adjusting screen and also through the holes (f) and (g) in the guide plates or screens Gr, H, placed over the adjusting screen F, and at suitable distances apart see Figs. l and 2, the plates or screens G, H, are secured be tween-the same uprights E, F, as the adjusting screen E, the ends of the cords (e) are attached to a circular disk or plate I.

.'Ihe guide screens are for the purpose of keeping the cords (c) in a proper direction for instance the holes (jc) in the guide screen Gr, correspond to and are directly over the holes (d) in the adjusting screen E, and the holes (g) in the guide screen H, are directly under the eyes which are attached to the under surface of the circular plate or disk I, the cords being attached to the eyes; by this means the cords (e) have a proper direction and the pins are raised by the cords so that thetops of the pins will enter or pass into the holes these screens Gr, H, being necessary as the cords (e) are at- Y tachedto the circular plate or disk I, within a smaller compass than t-he pins occupy on v the alley when set upon the holes in the adf tween guides (2') (t)l and the uprights F, F.

The. guides are represented by dotted lines in Fig. 2, in Fig. l. One end of the rod or bar J, is seenbetween the guide (i) and upright F. K is a cord attached to the eye (It) and passing up over the pulley (j) which is att-ached to the cross piece L, of the uprights F, F. The cord K, then passes over the pulley (7c) which is attached to a cross piece M, on two uprights N, N, one onlyof which'is seen in Fig. 1, the crosspiece M, and pulley (7c) being shownby dotted lines, the cord then passes down and over a Wheel O, which is on a shaft (l) the bearings of the shaft being in the uprights N, N; A crank P, is onone end of the shaft (l) as seen in Figs. l, and 2. The crank P is designed to be placed Within reach of the player, and upon turning the wheel O, in the proper direction the pins D, as will readily be seen lare elevated and brought up to the adjusting screen E the tops of the pins passing through the holes (d) in the screen E till the shoulders (c) of the pins bear against the under surface of the screen see Fig. 2.V l/Vhile in this position the pins have the same relative position that they have when properly adjusted on the board, owing to the holes (ci) in the screen as has been before stated all that is requiredy to be done now is to let the pins gently down by reversing themotion of the wheel O till they reach the alley turning the wheel O, sufliciently to allow a suitable play or slack7 tothe cores (e) so that the pins may be knocked over by the balls.

The rod or bar J, the ends of which work between the guides and uprights F, F is for the purpose of keeping the circular disk or plateI working in a vertical direction when the pins are raised or lowered. Thus it will be seen that persons may practice the game of tenpins without the aid of an assistant to adjust the pins or to throw back the balls, the pins can also be adjusted in the alleyin less time than an assistant can doit and in a more perfect and precise manner.

Having thus described the nature and operation of my invention what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is`y Attaching the pins D, to a disk or plate I, by means of cords (e) in combination with the adjusting screen E, and guide screens G, H, by which the pins are properly adjusted or set up on the alley A upon raising and lowering the disk or plate I as described, the disk or plate being operated by means of the cord K passing over the pulleys (j) and around the wheel O power being communicated to the shaft (Z), or by any other mechanical means.

THOS. E. SHULL. Witnesses AWM. F. MOYER, GEO. W. ELDER. 

